Cardiff street pastors hope for more funding

VOLUNTEERS credited with helping to cut city centre violence could be set for a reprieve after funding cuts left them facing the axe.

VOLUNTEERS credited with helping to cut city centre violence could be set for a reprieve after funding cuts left them facing the axe.

Cardiff Street Pastors have helped countless drunken revellers on Friday and Saturday nights since they first began patrolling the streets two years ago.

But their director Gary Smith fears the 40 Christian helpers may not be able to continue their work beyond this month after their application for further funding was rejected.

While the pastors patrol between 10pm and 4am for free, the group must employ full-time workers such as administrators and co-ordinators, at around £40,000 a year.

Cardiff Street Pastors raise some of that money themselves, but also need an annual cash injection of tens of thousands of pounds.

Mr Smith said the Safer Capital partnership, a joint Cardiff council and police group, had rejected their bid.

But now the group’s deputy chairman, Judith Woodman, who is also deputy leader of Cardiff council, has told the Echo it is still considering the funding request.

She said: “Until we know exactly how much funding we have to work with from both the Home Office and Welsh Assembly Government, we are not in a position to comment on which services Safer Capital will be grant-funding post March 31.

“We are currently looking at all the services Safer Capital currently grant-funds in order to identify which ones can be sustained. Although each is being considered on its individual merits, it would be impossible for us to prioritise them if we looked at each service in isolation.

“We need to compare and contrast them collectively to see which ones offer the best value for the limited funding available. We are also looking to see if one project perhaps has a knock-on effect to something else if we stop it and what the likely impact will be.”

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.